In February 2021, the President of Competition and Consumer Protection Office issued the first two decisions imposing financial penalties on businesses that fail to regulate their obligations to contractors on time. The fines have been imposed on two companies operating in the TSL sector and amount to nearly PLN 500,000 in total.
The legal basis for imposing the penalties is the Act on counteracting excessive delays in commercial transactions.
In imposing the penalties, the President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection pointed out that the fight against payment delays is particularly important in the time of the pandemic when timely receipt of payments may be decisive for the “to be or not to be” of many entrepreneurs. In 2020, the first year the regulations were in force, 100 proceedings were initiated against the largest debtors.
The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) also signaled the need to clarify provisions of the Act that currently allow entrepreneurs in arrears to avoid penalties.